UX Song of the month: Satisfaction

After last month’s foray into Hollywood musicals, let’s return to some proper rock ‘n roll.  Now 50 years old, Satisfaction was the song that launched the Rolling Stones(this will open in a new window) on to the road to becoming superstars and kicked off a string of hits and a career (and touring) that continues to this day(this will open in a new window). The song is a quintessential rock classic which has been covered from everyone from Devo to Britney Spears though of course the original is the best.

Although often misinterpreted as a song of strong sexual yearning, it’s good to know that Mick and Keith were actually expressing their appreciation of one of the three pillars of usability – satisfaction.

One of the cornerstones of usability that brought it recognition and legitimacy as a discipline is International Standard ISO 9241 Part 11(this will open in a new window) from 1998.  The 9241 standard was entitled Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) and Part 11 which addresses the Guidance on Usability introduces the concept of usability by defining it as:

“Extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.”

Therefore what I often refer to as the three pillars of usability are:

1. Effectiveness – can users complete tasks, achieve goals with the product, i.e. do what they want to do?
2. Efficiency – how much effort do users require to do this? (Often measured in time)
3. Satisfaction – what do users think about the products ease of use?

I expect that Mick and Keith thought long and hard about the first two options, and although they are clearly tempting themes for songwriters, they stumped for satisfaction.  The satisfaction element is also the one that builds the bridge between usability and user experience.

The song recognises the need for people to enjoy their (presumably effective and efficient) journey, and that satisfaction can be achieved by providing confidence and removing doubts that may occur on that journey.  The best way to do that is to design experiences with an understanding of the users and the context of use, so that it will be an experience they will want to repeat or recommend to others.

That context of use, such as feeling in a great rush when performing tasks, can greatly add to the stress in performing tasks. Travel, deadlines and other stresses add up and the song clearly recognises that:

When I’m ridin’ round the world And I’m doin’ this and I’m signin’ that And I’m tryin’ to make some girl, who tells me Baby, better come back maybe next week Can’t you see I’m on a losing streak

In today’s modern eCommerce landscape a satisfying journey is much more than one that simply allows you to purchase a product.  An important part of a truly compelling and confidence-building user experience is the degree of trust that a customer has at all stages of their relationship with a brand.  Again the lyrics capture that powerfully and intimate how easy it is lose the respect of your target consumer audience:

When I’m watchin’ my tv and a man comes on and tell me How white my shirts can be But, he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke The same cigarettes as me

When we are performing research for our eCommerce clients we bear this in mind.  Usability testing certainly can tell us whether people achieved the task goal (effectiveness), and we can measure their efficiency through the time to perform the task or adherence to the “happy path” for performing the task.  But satisfaction is a much more subtle beast and it is where the skills of the moderator and observer really come into play.

We can often detect satisfaction (or more often a lack of satisfaction) from their subtle interactions.  A wrinkled nose, a strained tone of voice and folded arms may be indicators of test participants distancing themselves from the site they are using.  Similarly, a giggle at an unexpected funny bit of content, a positive comment or an approving nod of the head after finding the desired content are often indicators that participants that are satisfied and perhaps enjoying using the site.

How’s your satisfaction?

We hope that you are satisfied with this and the other articles within our series exploring the User Experience Playlist.  But if not, then why not let us know your favourite songs that refer to the wonderful world of UX (whether or not the songwriters knew it at the time).  In the coming months we’ve queued up musical UX tunes from Radiohead, Bjork and The Clash and we’d love to hear your suggestions.  Contact us to give us your thoughts and song suggestions or let us know by Twitter on @uservision using #UVUXplaylist.

And in the meantime why not have a look at the Stones introducing the song 50 years ago…